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Private Emotion

Sunday, March 19, 2017

The thing about love
is that it may be a one way street. However, the thing about relationship is
that it is never a one way street. The thing about having a significant other
is that you uncover yourself towards them. It is that your true self will be
unveiled before them. It is that you are being truly and fully naked in front
of them. The thing about having a significant other is that you feel safe when
you share even your deepest dream. It is that you feel safe when you share even
your darkest fear. It is that you feel safe even when you share your most
private emotion. The thing about having a significant other is that you will
never be alone during the good and the bad times, for better and for worse, and
even for the best and the worst. The thing about having a significant other is
that you will never be alone during your strong and your weak, your high and
your low, your bright and your dark. The thing about those things is that it is
overwhelming you. Hence it makes you scared and terrified. Hence it makes you
want to runaway sometimes. Love runs both ways when we are in a relationship.
Hence we should not be scared and terrified though we are overwhelmed by it. Hence
we should open our heart. Hence we must not runaway.

“When your soul is tired and your
heart is weak, do you think of love as one way street? Well it runs both ways;
open up your eyes, can’t you see me here? How can you deny?” –The
Hooters, Private Emotion

The song I would like
to talk about this time is a song titled “Private Emotion”. It was originally recorded
by American rock band, The Hooters, for their fifth studio album, “Out of Body”,
released on May 11th 1993. Six years later, it was covered by Puerto Rican
singer, Ricky Martin. It was released as a single on February 8th 2000,
featuring Swedish singer, Meja. It was also included in Martin’s second
eponymous album, as well as his first album in English, which was released on
May 11th 1999. This song served as the fifth and also the final single taken
from the album. Martin’s version became immensely popular and an official
accompany music video directed by Francis Lawrence was released in 2000. “Private
Emotion” was written by The Hooters’ front-men, Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman. The
Hooters’ version is a rock ballad track with a medium tempo, while Martin’s
version is a pop ballad R n’ B, also with a medium tempo. Though I like both versions,
I actually prefer Martin’s version since it sounds more familiar to me and I
grew up listening to it. The lyrics speak about the private feeling that can be
shared only by two people who are soul-mates.

"Out of Body" album cover by The Hooters | source: en.wikipedia.org

There are some people
who are afraid when they feel too happy or everything seems so great for them.
They think that when they feel too happy then they will feel so sad soon
enough. They think that when everything seems so great for them then everything
will turn too bad soon. Well, they are not completely wrong. And actually I’m
that kind of person too. It is called “regression to the mean”, when everything
will eventually come into the middle to find balance again. Hence when
everything is good, soon something bad will come. However, when everything is
bad, soon something good will come too; regression to the mean. “Every endless night has a dawning day. Every
darkest sky has a shining ray. And it shines on you. Baby, can’t you see? You’re
the only one who can shine for me.” There is a silver lining even amidst
the dark clouds. And nothing lasts forever even the cold November rain. Just because
we stumble along the way, doesn’t mean we will be on the ground forever. All things
will eventually pass. These too shall pass.

“When your soul is tired and your heart is
weak, do you think of love as one way street? Well it runs both ways; open up
your eyes, can’t you see me here? How can you deny?” I was raised in a Javanese culture
which taught me that this life is indeed fluctuating. There are ups and downs,
but it continues to flow. There is no constant sadness, as well as there is no
constant happiness. Everything always has its time. However, we also need to
think about traumatic effects caused by the fluctuation of life, because that
is what mostly being neglected by most people (Nurrachman Sutojo, 2013: 75). Therefore
the role of a significant other becomes important in a relationship. We need to
understand that when we have a significant other, we actually have a person to
rely on when everything gets hard and rough. We can see them and we can reach
for them and share every pain. “Every
endless night has a dawning day. Every darkest sky has a shining ray. It takes
a lot to laugh as your tears go by, but you can find me here till your tears
run dry.”

I believe that every
pain is traumatic. And every traumatic feeling is always personal. It is like a
private section of everyone. And I understand it all too well that it is so
hard to share this private emotion towards anybody else, including our
significant other. Hence when it comes, we tend to keep it for ourselves or
even choose the easy way: runaway and hide. However, the right thing to do is
most of the time the hardest thing. “It’s
a private emotion that fills you tonight. And a silence falls between
us as the shadows steal the light. And wherever you may find it, wherever
it may lead, let your private emotion come to me.” Instead of running away
and hiding, it will be best to share our private emotion to our trusted ones,
and in this case is our significant other. Though we will need a time to do
that, we need to do that eventually. Sharing is the best thing to do for a self
healing process. We may know ourselves better than anyone else. However, our
significant other may know things that we do not even realize about ourselves.

We may understand
ourselves better than anyone else does. However, when we got tied up in sadness
and exhaustion of misfortunes that this life brings, we tend to not be able to
see what we are really capable of. When our soul got tired and our heart is
weak, we tend to not be able to know how much our endurance really is. On the
other hand, our significant other may be able to see and know it. Despite the
dark clouds that clung upon us, they can always see the silver lining. They can
always see our lights even when we feel like we are at our darkest. Despite the
series of misfortune that come to us, they can always take a lesson and turn it
into a blessing in disguise. They can always know that something good is
waiting for us in the end of the day. They can always understand that it will
take some time for us to be better again, but they are just always there. They are
always there for us to rely on. There are always there for us to lean on. There
are always there for us with open arms. There are always there for us to share
this private emotion.

“Every endless night has a dawning
day. Every darkest sky has a shining ray. It takes a lot to laugh as your tears
go by, but you can find me here till your tears run dry.” –The Hooters,
Private Emotion

Every endless night
has a dawning day, every darkest sky has a shining ray

And it shines on you,
baby can’t you see? You’re the only one who can shine for me

It’s a private emotion
that fills you tonight

And a silence falls
between us as the shadows steal the light

And wherever you may
find it, wherever it may lead

Let your private
emotion come to me, come to me

When your soul is
tired and your heart is weak, do you think of love as one way street?

Well it runs both
ways, open up your eyes, can’t you see me here? How can you deny?

It’s a private emotion
that fills you tonight

And a silence falls
between us as the shadows steal the light

And wherever you may
find it, wherever it may lead

Let your private
emotion come to me, come to me, come to me

Every endless night
has a dawning day, every darkest sky has a shining ray

It takes a lot to
laugh as your tears go by, but you can find me here till your tears run dry